1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electrical connecting device and, more particularly, to a connector adapted to be mounted on the surface of a circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of connector systems used for connecting a circuit board with another electrical component are well known in the art. One example of conventional board-mount connectors in such connector systems, which is adapted to be mounted on the surface of a circuit board, includes a plurality of contact elements and an electro-insulating body for supporting the contact elements in several rows. The electro-insulating body is provided with a mount surface adapted to face the surface of the circuit board when the connector is mounted on the board surface.
When the contact ends of the contact elements, adapted to be engaged with counterpart contact elements of counterpart connector, are supported in the electro-insulating body so as to extend in parallel to the mount surface of the latter, the contact elements are generally shaped in a "right angled" profile. In this case, when the contact elements are arranged in a matrix with several rows, the terminal ends opposed to the contact ends of the contact elements, adapted to be connected to the circuit of the circuit board, should be offset or bent to avoid interference between the adjacent contact elements. Therefore, this type of conventional board-mount connector should include different types or shapes of contact elements, the number of which corresponds to the number of rows of the contact elements.
The use of the different types of contact elements tends to increase the number of steps for producing the connector, and thus to deteriorate the productivity of the conventional board-mount connector. Also, when the rows of the contact elements are increased in the conventional board-mount connector, the pitch or distance between the terminal ends or external terminals of the contact elements is decreased, which causes a problem of short circuits.
On the other hand, the circuit board on which the conventional board-mount connector is mounted, should be provided with terminals of the circuit in the area outside the mounted connector. Consequently, the area for mounting other electrical devices on the board surface is reduced, which makes it difficult to ensure the desired high density mounting performance of the circuit board.
Further, when the conventional board-mount connector is mounted on the circuit board, the distal ends of the terminal ends of the contact elements should be aligned with each other in a common plane to ensure the proper self-positioning of the terminal ends on the circuit board. Such an alignment of the terminal ends may be readjusted just before mounting the connector on the circuit board as occasion demands, which makes the mounting operation troublesome.